Cynthia Cruz’s “Strange
Gospels” is a title appears several times in her series The Glimmering Room published by Four Way Books. The particular
poem I am speaking of is located precisely on page sixty (the eleventh “Strange
Gospels” on the table of content). This one particularly caught my attention, because
of her references to the character Billy. Billy gives breathing life to the
series, because of the depth depicted in the character through his or her life
experiences. It plays with the ideals of gender, and how it is depicted in
society. It also criticizes society’s constructs of gender, and how it does not
necessarily pertain to one’s biological sex.
Strange Gospels
Billy is dead.
They found her
In a car in the
lot behind the Mab.
Chinatown street
corners
At thirteen in
Redd Kross
Tank top and
silver-glitter platforms.
Billy’s dead.
But I carry her
Black fur
Bear in my arms-
Cruz, Cynthia. The
Glimmering Room. New York, NY: Four Way, 2012. Print.
